According to new reports by the World Inequality Lab, the richest people are responsible for releasing vast amounts of carbon dioxide emissions compared to lower-income people. The idea of "emissions inequality" delves into how nations contribute to climate change the most, which are evidently disproportionately affecting different regions that produce significantly fewer greenhouse gases.
Carbon Emissions and Climate Change
Carbon dioxide, according to NASA, is a vital heat-trapping greenhouse gas that is released through various natural processes such as volcanic eruptions and respiration but is also released via human activities, mainly fossil fuel burning and deforestation. As of October 2021, there is 417 ppm of CO2.
Since the start of the industrial area in 1850, anthropogenic activity has significantly raised the atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide by almost 49%. This is far more than what naturally occurred over 20,000 years ago during the Last Glacial Maximum of 185-280 ppm. Although CO2 absorbs and radiates heat, the recent increases in greenhouse gasses are responsible for tipping the planet's energy budget out of balance, trapping more heat, and raising the global average temperature leading to climate change.
High-Income Earners, the Richest Americans, Generate the Highest Carbon Emissions; Report Says
According to a report by the World Inequality Lab in North America, the upper 10% of people by income produce almost 73 tons of CO2 per person every year. Compared to European and East Asian top earners that release 29 tones and 39 tons of carbon emissions respectively. However, at the end of the income spectrum, the bottom 50% of North Americans only emit 10 tons of CO2 per person every year. With European and East Asians of the same category emitting 5 tons and 3 tons, respectively.
The report states that the poorest half of the US population has emission levels comparable with the middle 40% of the European populace, despite being roughly twice as poor.
One reason behind the disparity in the US energy mix is more CO2 intensive, and there is greater reliance on less efficient vehicles. The report finds that if total emissions were divided among the global population, each person would emit about 6.6 tons of CO2 into the planet's atmosphere yearly, which is about twice as much as required to limit the average global warming to 2 degrees Celsius by mid-century.
The average emissions greatly vary depending on the region. People residing in sub-Saharan Africa emit only 1.6 tons of CO2 in 2019 compared to people living in North America that generated 20.8 tons per person.
However, inequality within countries is growing at a dispiriting rate, a shift from the average in 1990 person in rich countries contributed more to CO2 than anyone else across the globe. Today, the top 10% emitters are responsible for about half of all CO2, while the bottom 50% produce only 12% of the total carbon pollution. Additionally, although the per capita emissions of the poorest people have decreased in rich countries, the world's top 1% emissions have substantially increased, reports ScientificAmerican.
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